The Power of Victory
Notes
Transcript
Enemies
Enemies
As you are turning your Bibles over to Hebrews Chapter 1 verse 13 this morning I am going to ask a question, answer it your to yourself, this isn’t the kind of question we need to be blurting out the answers to: Who are your enemies? Hopefully you not looking around the room right now identifying them here in the service, especially if you are married to that person!
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
And if you want reinforcement of this point you can read the book of James, and you don’t even have to read it carefully because if you miss it the first time — this point--that a Christian must not hate — is repeated over and over again throughout the book.
What it could mean
What it could mean
Victor Hugo the french author you are probably most familiar with for writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables (Lay Miz-er-ob-leh) once wrote:
You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
And this isn’t untrue, if you are going to do anything worth note, you will probably end up with enemies. If you are going to be an outspoken Christian, you will have enemies. I mean Jesus was pretty clear about this in John 15:18-19
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
In our message this morning we are looking not at our enemies but at Christ’s enemies. So, if you have your bibles read along with me in Hebrews 1:13
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
This is our final message in our series The Power of Christ entitled The Power of Victory
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Christ’s Enemies
Christ’s Enemies
Our bible speaks of the enemies of Christ, antichrists.
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
There is a specific person referred to as Antichrist, someone we read about throughout the bible when we read on end times prophecy. A person who opposes christ, hence the name anti-Christ or antichristos in the Greek.
John says that there will be a specific antichrist to come but that history would be filled with those who are enemies of our Lord. Those who reject the gospel of Christ or teach against the deity of Christ. 1 John 4:1-3 says
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
John writes this relatively soon after the resurrection and we know of the persecution we read of the early church — but history has been filled with those who, even in the name of God, reject the notion that Jesus Christ is God incarnate.
Docetism
Docetism
John was addressing a specific heresy held by the gnostics, the heresy of docetism. To understand docetism you have to understand that the gnostics had the view of a spiritual realm and a physical realm and that all things spiritual were good and all things physical were evil. Holiness to them was mostly found in understanding what they understood as secret knowledge of spiritual truths.
You may think that isn’t so bad but it built a theology where salvation was in knowing a hidden god, a god that was in their minds supreme even to our God in that our God was the god of creation, of the physical realm.
This heresy of docetism maintains that Christ was not physically on earth. It was an illusion. Even the word docetism means a phantom or illusion. The belief that they held to was that Jesus’ physical nature was like I said, just an illusion. And the suffering on the cross was an illusion.
When John calls the people who teach this heresy antichrists what he is saying is that these are the enemies of Christ because they are teaching false doctrine that steals from the glory of Christ. If you deny that Christ is God incarnate — if you deny what we call the hypostatic union of Christ — that he is the god-man, both fully man and fully God — then you are a heretic — And whether this denial of christ comes from a heart of atheism or extreme theological error, you are anti-christ, and you are the enemy of God.
Footstools
Footstools
Our passage in Hebrews this morning is a reference to Psalm 110 verse 1
1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
I don’t think we really connect with this word picture in the 21st century, but at the time it would have been well understood. Pharaoh’s in Egypt would sit on elevated chairs and to get to the chair they would have to step upon a footstool. They would prop their feet on this stool while they sat rather than having their feet dangle.
The Pharaoh’s would sometimes use their conquered enemies as their footstools in a show of their superiority and many of their stools were carved to portray their enemies under foot. Often 9 bound enemies were portrayed representing the 9 traditional nations who were the enemies of Egypt. The picture was clear, their enemies were portrayed as beneath the Pharaoh and in his complete control, so much so that they could be made to be so insignificant as to be trodden under foot. Tutankhamun went so far as to have representations of these enemies inscribed into the bed of his sandals.
And so the Psalm is clear especially in the context of it having been written by David, a King himself. The enemies of Christ will be totally and completely conquered.
Whose Enemies?
Whose Enemies?
The Question
The Question
But consider how the verse begins, In psalm 110:1
Psalm 110:1 (KJV 1900)
1 The Lord said unto my Lord
Yahweh said unto my Adoni
The primary point in Hebrews is that this isn’t a statement ever made of any of the Angles verse 13 is a question in regard to what is well known in Psalm 110
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
And the answer is of course, none. This is a messianic promise and even the Pharisee’s understood this.
This verse ends up being the 5th most quoted verse from the Old Testament having been quoted in the New Testament 5 times. 3 of those times are found in each of the synoptic gospels where Jesus uses the psalm to
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
His point being how could King David — when speaking of this exchange between God (Yahweh) and the Messiah, refer to the Messiah as Lord (Adoni) if the Messiah was David’s descendent. It should be the other way around, the descendent should call the patriarch Lord.
The Pharisee’s had no answer for this question because their hardened hearts wouldn’t admit to the reality of the Messiah being the Son of God.
Not Our Enemies
Not Our Enemies
It is important for us to read this verse well. The Lord says unto my Lord. This is a conversation between God the Father and God the Son, and it is enemies of God the Son who will be made footstools of the Son.
I want to read you a couple of quotes from some very well known preachers.
T.D. Jakes said on Twitter
God will make your enemies your footstool! He will use people that don't like you to bless you!
Joel Osteen said in a sermon
God can make your enemies your footstool
And Joseph Prince said
Rest till your enemies become your footstool
Believe me when I say that I don’t bring these men up to gloat in our superiority over their false teaching. And I think that there is a real danger there that we need to be guarded against.
But understand that they are promoters of a form of Christianity that is entirely ‘me’ centric. It is inspirational, it is uplifting, but what it isn’t is biblical.
God said he would make Christ’s enemies Christ’s footstool. And yes Malachi 4:3 does say this
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
But please see that these aren’t your enemies and this is not your time. It is Christ’s enemies and in Christ’s time.
No, for your enemies what does our Bible say:
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
-Matthew 5:43-45
We need to be careful that we aren’t hating our enemies and giving biblical justification for it. We can’t be reveling in that our enemies will be put under our feet.
Remember it’s Pharaohs and Kings that have the footstools, who brought their enemies into subjugation. If you want your enemies under your foot, then you have decided that you should be lord.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians writes in Chapter 3 verse 17-19
17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
People may see us as enemies — but you and I fellow Christian — should see only enemies who are enemies of the cross, and we should have the heart of Paul about it. Paul says I have often told about these enemies and have done so weeping. Because Paul knows that their end is destruction, and he would rather see those who are enemies redeemed than destroyed.
I’m sure that Paul’s heart was particularly sensitive to care for the fate of those who were the enemies of the cross — because --before his conversion --that is exactly who Paul was, — an enemy of the cross. He was a persecutor of Christians and on that same path to destruction.
Let me tell you this morning that I get this. Because I have a period in my life where I thought that I was a Christian and I absolutely was not. And I was headed for destruction, all the while thinking that I was righteous. There is no room for arrogance or superiority in our faith, only a heart that weeps for the lost.
The Final Enemy
The Final Enemy
But before we close I want to draw you attention to one other place where find this language of enemies being put under feet. Turn with me to 1 Cor 15:24-26
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
And then in verse 26
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
When we think of enemies, it’s easy to think of all the people who have done us wrong, to think of those who persecuted Christians and to think of those who have been public enemies of the gospel and to think of them as our enemies.
They may be. But Death. No enemy is greater than death. Death is so inevitable and it’s destruction so complete that we do everything possible to put it out of our minds. We try to put death out of our minds and to pretend that it isn’t coming — but we know — it’s coming.
And this morning, from 1 Corinthians 15:26 I can tell you that even this enemy of death — Christ will put this enemy beneath his feet.
I read to you some commentary that suggested that the Bible will put — your enemies — beneath your feat. That might seem like a great motivational thing to say — but the truth, that we are talking about the enemies of Christ, including death being defeated. The truth of the gospel of Christ surpasses any misinterpretation.
This morning you have an opportunity to see that victory. Christ’s enemies are his enemies because they are those who would do what they can to keep you from salvation through him. This morning if you haven’t made Jesus Christ your Lord I ask that you don’t leave here or turn off the live stream at home until you do, and in doing so win an early victory for our Lord.
If you have any question you can grab me after we close in prayer or send me a message through facebook and I would love to tell you more about our savior.
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